County's New 911 System Set To Go * Some Northampton Officials Confident, Others Anxious About Switchover.

July 25, 1999|by BRYAN HAY, The Morning Call

Before dawn Thursday, Northampton County will call Bell Atlantic and direct the utility to route emergency calls to the county's new 911 center in Upper Nazareth Township.

The switchover from the old 911 station in Palmer Township should take only a few hours to complete and will be executed without media fanfare.

However, the simple act formally will end the first privatized 911 system in the nation and the county's abbreviated but acrimonious relationship with its 911 vendor.

The county says it is prepared to replace Electronic Data Systems, which has provided 911 to its client for two years, and eager to escape a subject that has affected politics and the public discourse for years.

"We've gone beyond the beyond the beyond to make sure the data is valid and installed locally by people who would see glaring errors," said William Hetherman, the county's administrative director for emergency communications and 911 oversight.

"We will have glitches, but we're ready to hit the airwaves. We went through hell to get this job done."

County Council President Wayne Grube says the operation looks good but anticipates problems. He has been wary of Hetherman's can-do pronouncements and concerned he has not seen an itemized breakdown of the $22 million project. The administration promises to deliver that in fall.

"If it works and everything goes well, I'll be the first to congratulate them," Grube said. "If it doesn't work, I'll be the first to condemn them."

Radio frequencies and simulations on the computer-aided dispatching system known as CAD have been tested, and the 33 dispatchers who will work in tight quarters in the Greystone Building have received 200 hours of training.

Full-time dispatchers have accompanied police officers in the field to acquaint themselves with protocols and duties carried out on the other end of the 911 call.

Dispatchers also went through medical and drug screenings as well as vigorous mental tests, including one in which they had to divide a deck of cards into suits while talking about themselves.

The exercise helped determine if the candidates could handle more than one task at a time, said Deborah Lack, deputy 911 director of emergency communications.

"We're not just pulling people off the streets; everyone has been treated as an individual and a team has gelled," she said. Sixty percent of the dispatching staff came from EDS, the rest have military and emergency services backgrounds.

Dispatchers will sit at nine stations, each with three 21-inch terminals that will receive 911 information, dispatch calls and produce detailed maps.

They have memorized the numerical codes representing three regions: Easton area, Slate Belt and the western and central parts of the county. The mapping system is expected to be completed Monday.

The system is stacked with redundancies, meaning every terminal has its own copy of the CAD in case of a crash. A diesel-powered generator will kick on 30 seconds after a power failure; an additional battery backup would keep the center alive for several hours.

Many observers are surprised the county could assemble a 911 system so fast; as a result of the speedy work, some, such as Grube, remain skeptical about how well the system will perform.

The county's 911 staff and consultants have been scrambling since March 26. That's when EDS, formerly MCI Systemhouse, announced it would withdraw its personnel and equipment by 7 a.m. Thursday. EDS, hired by former Republican Executive Bill Brackbill, went online in July 1997.

During and after his 1997 campaign to unseat Brackbill, Glenn Reibman made no secret that things would change for the 911 vendor.

Reibman took office in January 1998 and tapped Director of Administration James Hickey to plot a new 911 system estimated to cost $22 million over 10 years, half the cost of the EDS contract.

Democrat-controlled county government fired the company last July, citing cost and performance, and began planning its own 911 system during the one-year transition period allowed in the contract.

The two sides will meet in a federal courtroom Oct. 25 to resolve their contractual differences.

The litigation will determine whether the county will have to pay the $17 million buyout stated in the $43 million, 10-year contract.

The county says it should not have to pay because it fired EDS for cause, not convenience, but it would save at least $4 million even if it loses. EDS says it has done its job and is owed the $17 million.

EDS believes it did its job well, according to Lawrence Consalvos, managing director of EDS' public safety group.

Although it has critics and may face more legal costs by retaining 911 lawyers who charge $200 an hour, Reibman's team is celebrating its new 911 operation. The Greystone Building will be used until a permanent dispatching center is built nearby in 2002.